‘No feral horses lost their lives inside Dibru-Saikhowa National Park’: DFO (Wildlife) Tinsukia

Aug. 31: There is no incident of death of feral horses in Dibru-Saikhowa National Park. Making this disclosure, Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife), Tinsukia said that no feral horses lost their lives within the jurisdiction of Dibru-Saikhowa National Park (DSNP), as reported by a section of the media. “Of late, media has been reporting about death of feral horses in the national park. I would like to clarify that no feral horses lost their lives inside DSNP.”

The DFO said that report of death of horses was found to have happened at Daria Chapori somewhere close to Kobo Chapori under the territorial jurisdiction of Dhemaji Forest Division. “I spoke to my Dhemaji counterpart as well as Range Officer Incharge Jonai Range and came to know that three horses died due to flood while two other horses were rescued by the Jonai district administration.”

The DFO also clarified that the horses which died due to flood are believed to have been abandoned by their owners due to non-use during the COVID situation. “It is not quite possible for feral horses to migrate from DSNP to that location by crossing the river Siang,” he added. Dibru-Saikhowa National Park is spread across Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts in Upper Assam, around 521km from here.

It is designated as a biosphere reserve and houses many endangered species and is rich in fish diversity. It is also known for its huge population of feral horses. Feral horses are free-roaming animals of domesticated stock. Some populations of feral horses also live in the wild.